Light Curve Generator (LCG)

WHAT IS THIS?

This is your data. Observations of variable stars are commonly plotted on a graph called a
light curve, as the apparent brightness (magnitude) versus time, usually in
Julian Date (JD). The magnitude scale is plotted so that brightness increases
as you go from bottom to top on the Y-axis and the JD increases as you go from
left to right on the X- axis. The Light Curve Generator is an online tool for
performing just this function. Since its creation in May of 1999 the AAVSO
Light Curve Generator has been one of the most popular tools on the AAVSO web site.
As of 08/01/2010, over a half a million individual light curves have been plotted.

WHAT CAN I DO?

First, you must choose the star and time period for which you would like a
light curve. The star can be in either Harvard Designation, AUID or based on a name accepted by VSX.
The date can be either in JD or mm/dd/yyyy. Next, you need to
decide what data you want to display. You can choose to ignore
fainter thans and other bandpasses to give a cleaner plot. To some people, presentation
is equally as important as what data you analyze. For them we have the ability
to customize how you would like your plots to look. By far the most popular
feature of the program is the ability to highlight your own observations.

HOW CAN I GET HELP?

We have a couple of good help guides available for the Light Curve Generator.
First, a description of what a light curve is.
The Variable Star Astronomy curriculum also has a chapter on light curve
analysis.
If you need further assistance, send us an E-mail at: aavso@aavso.org

WHAT IS THE NAME, DESIGNATION, OR AUID OF THE OBJECT?

DO YOU WANT TO LIMIT THE NUMBER OF DAYS PLOTTED?If so, enter the number of days to look back from today

Days

OR, DO YOU WANT TO PLOT A SPECIFIC DATE RANGE?If so, enter start and end dates here (JD or MM/DD/YYYY)